A Witch in Time

head. Did he even want to know at this point in his life? Could he even recognize a True Mate? His emotions were so locked up, he didn’t even think he’d recognize her if she lay sprawled out at his feet.
“Reed, you can’t just stay unmarried forever.”
He could barely stifle his chuckle. “Of course I can. I’m a man.”
“But you need a wife. A duchess and a Lupa.”
“There is no rule that says I have to,” he reminded her. “Besides, I don’t want a wife, a duchess, or a mate. I don’t need one. I don’t even need an heir. William will inherit the dukedom and the Alpha title.” He had been contemplating it the last six months, and he had decided that that was the best course of action.
“But Reed, I—” Eleanor’s hands gripped that arms of her chair and her body went stiff.
“Eleanor?” He cocked his head at her. “What’s the matter?”
A loud scream pierced the air and Reed’s senses went on full alert. His wolf’s hackles rose, and its claws tore at his insides, warning him that something was definitely wrong.
“William!” Eleanor cried as her face twisted into a mask of concern. From the way his sister shot to her feet and called on her Lycan speed to propel herself out the office, she must have sensed real danger. A risk of course, considering half the staff wasn’t Lycan. However, his wolf urged him to follow Eleanor, and so he did, all the way out the door and to the gate.
He spied the slightly ajar gate and his sister about to exit. With his instincts on full alert, he pushed forward, pulling her aside so he could be on the frontlines, in case there really was a threat. He stopped short as a bundle of blue silk sprawled at his feet. Much to his surprise, a figure unfurled in a flurry of fabric and startlingly blue eyes stared back up at him. The color of the sky when lightning struck the clouds.
And then he felt it.
Heat ran down his spine, followed by numbing cold. Then, it was like his head had been hit by a blunt object while a large fist slammed into his chest. All of this happened in a split second and without any pain.
His inner wolf let out a soul-piercing howl.
Mate, a voice inside him whispered.
Hell’s bells.
“Oh, my Lord! William!”
His sister’s voice cut through the chaos in his mind, and he blinked. Eleanor was by his feet, kneeling down as she gathered her son into her arms.
“Oh, William … William, darling …” she cooed as she soothed the boy. “I was so scared …”
It was a feat to turn his gaze away from them. From her. He didn’t want to look at her, really look at her.
“Elise!” another feminine voice called out. A woman in a gold ballgown was running across the street toward them. What the devil was going on? A third person—a rather imposing and tall man dressed like some kind of buccaneer—ran up behind her.
“Are you okay? Elise, this isn’t what we—” The woman in gold looked up and locked eyes with him.
What strange eyes. One blue and one green. However, looking into this woman’s eyes didn’t give him the same reaction as the other one. Except that his wolf’s claws extended, feeling the presence of an unknown wolf.
Lycan. She was a Lycan. And so was her male companion.
“Who are you?” he asked her. “And what are you doing in my territory?”
“Alpha,” the man said in a reverent voice, his head dropping low and not meeting his gaze. “Forgive us for arriving unannounced in your territory.”
Reed felt his anger rising. They knew they were in violation of the Constanta Agreement, the set of rules that governed Lycan kind and territorial matters. No Lycan was to cross into another’s territory without permission. “You dare come here, into my territory and my home? How did you—”
“Reed!” Eleanor rose up to her full height and planted herself in front of him. “For goodness sake! She saved William! He could have been run over by that hackney coach.” She glanced around. “Where is it?”
“The coachman has gone, ma’am,” the man explained. “He didn’t even see your son or my … our … Elise when she caught him.”
His Elise? A pang of jealousy shot through him and he couldn’t help but look to her to gauge her reaction. It was a move he regretted because his body instantly reacted to her again.
She was standing now, brushing the dirt from her skirts, then as she lifted her head, locked gazes with him. Her presence struck him like a bolt of lightning, and this time he could not turn away, not when she was staring up at him with those vivid blue eyes so big, they took up half her face. Her creamy skin was flushed and her pouty lips slightly parted.
And that hair—dark red curls that tumbled down her shoulders and back in an almost scandalous manner. No woman would leave the house with her hair in such disarray, and irrational anger surged through him, as if he wanted to keep such a sight to himself.
“Er, Elise?” the woman in gold said. “Are you okay?”
She blinked. “What?”
“Who are you?” Eleanor held William tight to her as her eyes narrowed at the three strangers. “And which clan are you from?”
“We’re from very far away,” the man said. “America.”
“Oh!” Eleanor exclaimed. “Americans! I’ve never met Americans before. Have you, Reed?”
“Only a handful,” he answered, finally able to tear his gaze from the woman. Elise. Her name was burned into his brain. Did he dare say who she could be, what his wolf recognized? Was it really her?
This woman, who seemingly came from nowhere, wearing a ballgown in the middle of day, was his True Mate?
Did she feel it too? She didn’t say anything, but instead, averted her gaze.
No. It couldn’t be. This was all wrong.
“You seem to know who my brother is,” Eleanor began. “At least, you acknowledged that